Yes believe it or not as a Trader we are already being lobbied for attendance at shows and to book our Tipis for 2013. Oh that I could say that the industry had seen sense and were consolidating into one or two fantastic Shows.

Unfortunately there are more Shows in 2013 than ever before with the newest being one at Harrogate. We are now thinking long and hard about those we want to attend and those that we can afford to attend. Costs have not been fully revealed for 2013 and we fear that some Organisers will still want Traders to pay significant amounts of money for less customer traffic and spend. It is as if they have no idea how much of a struggle it is in the outside world!

So far we have only committed to the two openers being the Malvern 4x4 Spares Day on 13th January and the Donington 4x4 Show on 17th March plus the two Newbury 4x4 Spares Days on 7th April and 6th October. We also plan to show some of our classic Land Rovers on 2nd and 3rd March at the Malvern Tractor World Show.

Both David who organises Donington and our old friend Mark who handles the other four are two sensible guys who understand the trade and the importance of getting the right exhibitors and building for the future. We need higher traffic and I am not sure if many shows will deliver this vital ingredient namely more customers.

We have had a note from LRO saying they are concentrating everything on Peterborough and plan to get more involved with the content and the marketing of the Show. They are no longer sponsoring/supporting Billing or Driffield. I hope this is good news and plan to pass on yet again some detailed feedback that we have gathered from our customers at the Peterborough Show. We so need an industry flagship show that becomes the very best of its kind. To achieve this accolade it needs to focus on the family and have better quality and more relevant Traders.

We plan to help all we can to this end and to publicise the events we attend. There are many outdoor and vehicle interests that could be included but are currently excluded from our shows. Let’s have some innovation in 2013! 'Mr Grumpy' in me says: 'don’t hold your breath'.

We so need a Champion that dreams of a fantastic show and all the necessary ingredients and has the resources to invest for one or two years and watch it grow. Unfortunately at present this is just a dream as many seem focused on making their cash short term; which is a reasonable business view just like Banks!

I am on the side of the Dreamers and will support them to the very end. By the way I don’t like Banks either.